It wasn't the prettiest victory of the season, but a win is a win. After downing Durant and his Seattle cronies, The Blazers will head up to the emerald city to do battle with the Sonics for the second time in as many days. Here's what the scribblers are saying about last night's victory and Oden's new "frohawk".

The Blazers lacked offensive execution, going the final 6:13 without a basket. They also missed 12 free throws, including three in the final 1:57. Appearing tentative and confused, the Blazers had three shot-clock violations and two three-seconds-in-the-key violations and shot 38.2 percent from the field against one of the NBA's worst defenses.

The saving grace was a stellar defensive game from LaMarcus Aldridge, who tied a career high with five blocks and drew a fourth-quarter charge on SuperSonics rookie sensation Kevin Durant. Aldridge had 18 points and 12 rebounds, and the Blazers had a season-high 11 blocks, including four from center Joel Przybilla.

Ben Golliver over at Blazers Edge has a complete recap of last night's game as well as another snap shot of the "frohawk" that took the world by storm.

Brandon Roy, still battling a bad chest cold, and still obviously not himself, finished with 19 points, and a career-high 14 rebounds. He also had 5 assists, 3 steals, and blocked a shot. Travis Outlaw had 19 points off the bench for the Blazers, and had several huge buckets in the fourth quarter after the Sonics had made their charge.

You could also award MVP honors in this game to Joel Przybilla, who had 5 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 blocked shots (4 officially). He played 31 minutes, and was crucial during crunch time, a time when he's not always in the ballgame. Afterwards, Nate McMillan said that having Joel on the floor more is what this team needs, and said he plans on moving in that direction. The player who will be impacted by that the most is Channing Frye, who played only 1:44 in this game.

The win came over a struggling Sonics team that had only 10 active players available for Thursday's game after trades this week shipped off regulars Kurt Thomas, Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West - losses that left the Sonics (14-39) an average of 26.4 points short of their usual production.

But the Blazers were in need of a victory no matter the opponent's shortcomings. And Thursday's win brought Portland back within 4.5 games of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

The Sonics were down 87-84 following an emphatic Jeff Green put-back dunk off his own miss with 1:39 remaining in the game. But missed opportunities and five made free throws by the Blazers down the stretch led to the loss for Seattle.

"We're a different team, especially after the trade," said guard Earl Watson, who had 15 points and nine assists, but also had five turnovers. "We lost players that were key down the stretch, especially in winning games. We have to learn to win again as a different group."

More on the trade and other Blazer rumblings

John Canzano gives his view of the deal that sent Taurean Green to Denver for Von Wafer, and also chimes in on Oden's new 'do (see above).

For Portland: STOP THE PRESSES!!! Green for Wafer!!! Cue up the special "SportsCenter" and get Bucher on the phone, pronto ...

Um, not really. Actually, this trade is likely to be totally irrelevant. But Wafer can shoot the rock, and Portland likes shooters. Grade: Incomplete

For Denver: The Nuggets save a teeny bit of money ($454,562, to be exact) between salary and tax, and get an insurance point guard in case something happens to Anthony Carter. Additionally, Green has a team option for next season, which can be valuable currency in offseason trades. Grade: Incomplete